Yamaha TTR 250cc (RAID)

Hi,
I have a Yamaha TTR 250cc (RAID) for sale. I am in Kamchay Mear which is 140 km from Phnom Penh in Cambodia. If anyone is planning a trip into Cambodia and is interested in the bike, I could drop by and show it to you.

- I'll give you 2 "INDEX" brand helmet (dirt bike style), an extra
chain, 2 extra clutch, 1 brake and 1 clutch cable, all the
necessary tools for regular maintenance, the complete manual of the
bike which is good if you don’t know anything about bikes.
- I'll get the bike deeply clean, the 7 plastic parts polished and
the metal frame part painted before handing it in.
- You can see the bike at this adress:http://members14.clubphoto.com/dominique933118/2916738/guest.phtml
and it might inspire your trip too!
- It's a four stroke and it's air-cooled.
- It has an electric starter with a powerful gel battery (easy to
find in Cambodia)
- The gas tank has a good capacity. I've tested it as far as 350 km
with one fill and it wasn't totally empty yet. The reserve has an
extra capacity of 60 km.
- Very comfortable bike, even if you have loads of packing stuff and
there's two people on it!
- The tyres are new and have less than 1000 km. Dunlop brand and
probably the best fit both for paved and dirt road.
- The engine was rebuilt 2000 km's ago by Mr. Fuark in Vientiane. I
got the bill although it's in Lao, but you can confirm with Mr.
Fuark if you drop by in Laos.
- The RAID has a huge and powerful headlight which gives headache to
anyone you meet on the road.
- Has a digital board. Ideal for distances calculation (which is
really important in those countries).
- For more information on this bike, go to http://www.ttr250.com

The bike is ''registered'' in Laos. I've got some official papers (with no names on it!), a license plate and the international transport permit. It doesn't make much difference because most of the policemen in Laos and Cambodia don't even know how to read and won’t pull you over except in Phnom Penh. Anyway, it gives a good impression. If you are interested in registering it for Cambodia, it'll cost you 25$US (or 5$US extra if you want the exam a little easier...just give it to the right guy). But really, I didn't do it because most policemen don't care about it and you can put a Barbie or Coor's plate on your bike if you want. Most people just don't put anything. If you're going to Thailand or Vietnam, the International Transport Permit and the Lao plate I’ll give won't cause you any problem.

I'm asking 1600$ USD, but it's negotiable. If you are interested, please contact me by e-mail since I don't have access to this board when I am in kamchay Mear and I’ll promptly respond:

serge_baillargeon@hotmail.com​

I'll post a trip report soon, I just have little time and resources for the moment.

Read everything under "Bits of Law" These are translations of the Thai laws that pertain to motorcycles. That will answer a lot of your basic questions.

There is a person posting there that says that he personally registered a motorcycle that he brought in, without using an agent. BUT - he does not say what size the bike is and reports that he first had to pay 72,000 baht in import taxes before going through an all day process.

You will NOT be able to do any registration in Thailand without the papers showing that the import taxes were paid.

I have also been told that the Thai law prevents you from importing a complete bike unless you have owned it for 2 years. I have never verified that personally.

For this size bike, the registration would probably be more than the cost of the bike, whether you brought it in yourself or bought one that had been imported as parts.

If you keep a Cambodian registration - real or counterfiet - you can only bring the bike in on a "tourist visa" of 30 days. There are several posts by people who do just that, then complain about the problems when they overstay.

BobS

"The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not and never persist in trying to set people right."

Hi Mobaan,
thanks for your interest, but I think BobS is right about Thailand. I didn't literally read anything about Thai law, but I know that if you want to import it, you'll have to pay a generous amount of tax. This bike might be interesting for someone who lives in Laos or Cambodia or that plans to travel in South-east asia.

About Laos, anyone will tell you it is impossible to register a bike in Laos...technically yes, but not quite because we did it. It is still register under the name of the owner in Luang Prabang (registration card, plate, international transport permit, etc.), but we made a contract with the seal of the local authorities in Luang Prabang attesting we are owner and user of the motorbike. We had no problem with that and I kept in touch with the owner, because I had a potential buyer from Lao who wanted to know if he could register it.

About Cambodia: no country in Cambodia is any simpler than that for papers. I drove the bike with a Lao plate for 3 months and the only place where you get pulled aside is Phnom Penh. You can always bargain with the cops and you should never pay more than 2 or 3 dollars (altough I paid 20 bucks the first time...lack of experience). I got pulled 6 times in 3 months with a total of 10 bucks (+ 20 bucks (but I don't like to talk about that one)).
The alternative is to buy a plate + registration. 28$ + a picture + an adress (choose any) + a name. You want a cop plate? 72$ + a picture + an adress + a name. This is obviously unofficial, but if you're thinking about going legal, go to the California 2 on the riverside of Phnom Penh, that's where the bikers and a lot of people hang around. You can also ask one of the 4 big motorbike shop in town (Lucky one (close to central market), Dara and 2 other one on Russian blvd)...you'll always get the same answer: only Baraing care about legal papers!

There is also a legal way in Cambodia which is just as simple, but involves more money. You can drop by the customs, pay the taxes (around 200-300$ US for this one) and get official registration which has to be renew every year. Ask Dara at his motorbike shop if you want to do that. Anyway it's a bit silly to do that because nobody does it, the card is exactly the same and the cops have no equipment to differentiate them and there exists absolutely no official record with the vehicles and the plates.

Anyway, the bike is not ours anymore, because we gave it to a student where we were working in order to pay for her studies. It is still for sale and the price is down to 1200$ USD. The RAID is worth around 1300-1400$USD in Cambodia, but the new owner decided to try to sale it 1200$ because Yamaha is not a popular brand for locals in Cambodia. If you own something else than a Honda for your motorbike, a Toyota Camry for your car and a Sony for your TV, you are probably Baraing!

Thanks for your interest, hope this is of some help as well for others.